Category: Sales

I was in a meeting the other day and a long time friend and I were talking about a mutual acquaintance and fellow sales professional. I could tell my friend was genuinely impressed with this person. He asked me what I thought about her. I explained “while she is definitely a good solid salesperson she’s not a great salesperson in my eyes”. This came as a complete surprise to my colleague. He then asked “then what is a great salesperson to you?”

If you’ve been in any kind of sales position, a business owner, and/or manager for any length of time you’ve most likely experienced sales burnout. I always know I’m “in a bad place” when after winning a deal it’s a pain to fill out the contract. One of my sales people tell me about a deal they won and while I show excitement I’m not. These should always be good things, right? What happened to the passion? The “I can’t wait to go to work” attitude?

Sales people fret and stew over hitting quota and a host of other items. As a manager they would come to me and ask what they should do? My advice was always the same. Stop worrying about your quota, performance plan, and what others think about you. Are you happy? Are you making the income desired? Are you hitting your goals? If not… Why not?